Re: Conlang Flag Design

Just a note: This is a general reply to a bunch of messages.   This'll
help me (as I went over my limit once recently already), and the list,
since it was held--which hasn't happened since the per-person per-day
limit has been instated (correct?).

Before commenting on the flag posts, as a general comment, I think
this is clogging the list.   Though we don't want to rush it, and we want
to give everyone time, I think we should probably close the door on
submissions pretty soon, get the final versions of the flags up even
sooner, and then start our preliminary round of voting.

Jeffrey wrote:

<<Again, for me the source of the story in religion is no more important than
the fact that Christian Thalmann's first name derives from Christianity or
that Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday and Friday derive their names from Norse
gods.  An interesting history but not something that has to exclude
atheists, agnostics, pantheists, etc.

And as Doug wrote, we're reversing the original meaning anyway, celebrating
a divine punishment, as it were.>>

While true, I'm sure if we thought about it long and hard enough, we could 
come
up with a perfect rationale for using a flag that's identical to the flag of 
the
Nazi party.   In fact, that exact problem is well-documented (i.e., the use 
of the
swastica--backwards, though--in certain native American cultures, and I 
believe
in India, all of which predated the use of the swastica in Nazi Germany.   
There's
even a kid's book called "The Girl Who Loved the Swastica", where a girl 
starts
drawing swasticas all over her folders because she likes the design, not 
knowing
that it actually stood for anything).   I don't think the rationale was the 
problem.
I just wouldn't want to display a flag with what looks like to the casual 
American
observer (I'm not even sure if this holds in other countries) like the 
Christian star.
I'll certainly support the flag if it's chosen; I just won't display it.

Roger wrote:

<< Here are some designs that my friend Matt B. and I came up with:

http://cinduworld.tripod.com/conlangflag1.jpg

http://cinduworld.tripod.com/conlangflag2.jpg

http://cinduworld.tripod.com/conlangflag3.jpg -- our personal favorite even
though the tongues didn't come out quite right

http://cinduworld.tripod.com/conlangflag4.jpg -- a modification of David P's
design; the gold border looked good on another design, it can easily be
removed.>>

I like all of these (though the gold border should be removed from the last
one).

Adrian wrote:

<< It's worth noting that no national flag
contains pale blue as far as I know>>

What about Argentina?   It looks pretty pale to me.   That's neither here nor
there, though, as I still like the shade of blue you decided on.

Adrian still:

<<Ultimately it's up to David how
many versions to keep in the race, but for those of us who don't like
the rays, the version with the hill clearly has more support behind
it.>>

I appreciate the reason you included the gold stripe (to keep it heraldicly
valid), but I think it should probably go in the "without hill version", and 
then
I think it's fine.   Perhaps the "with rays" version can go, since so many
people are submitting variations where the rays are done much more neatly.
Also, as far as I'm concerned, others' variations on my design are their own
property, and I shouldn't have any say on whether they stay or go (well,
any more say than each of us has about any design).

Leland wrote (note: When I hit reply to your e-mail, it was addressed 
directly
to you):

<<(Just to note: I'm not a visual artist. If my proposal ever got voted
up, it'd be great if someone else could create a nicer looking, larger
version.)

http://lee.kusmer.com/sunbabel.png>>

I really like this one, though it reminds me a bit of Thailand's flag.   I 
actually
like the colors as they are, but I can understand why others would want to 
see
the sun in a brighter color.

Jan wrote:

<<Given the opposition to the star, I would like to add an alternative
possibility too: <http://www.geocities.com/wenedyk/conlang5.bmp> . It
sort of a compromise: Christian's basic layout and colour scheme,
David's hieroglyph, and my own Babel tower. It is a very rough
drawing, done in ten minutes with minimal tools.>>

You know, if I could suggest a variation of this variation, what you *could*
do if you *really* wanted to incorporate a lot of the flags is the following:

(1) Somehow make the Babel tower a bit larger (slightly);

(2) Make the sun *much* larger, so that it's rising *over* the tower;

(3) Put the tongue glyph inside the sun--but centered.

I'm not sure if it could work, or if the color of the tower or sun would have
to change, but it's an idea.

-David

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